Womens rights as human rights

1
Womens rights as human rights

• CEDAW Preamble
• Noting that the Charter of the United Nations
  reaffirms faith in fundamental human rights, in
  the dignity and worth of the human person and in
  the equal rights of men and women,
• Noting that the Universal Declaration of Human
  Rights affirms the principle of the
  inadmissibility of discrimination and proclaims
  that all human beings are born free and equal in
  dignity and rights and that everyone is entitled
  to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein,
  without distinction of any kind, including
  distinction based on sex,
• Noting that the States Parties to the
  International Covenants on Human Rights have the
  obligation to ensure the equal rights of men and
  women to enjoy all economic, social, cultural,
  civil and political rights.

2
Whats interesting about womens rights?

• They are a fairly new category and list of
  rights. CEDAW undertook the difficult task of
  deciding which and what they are.
• They address an area in which the worlds
  cultures and religions are deeply divided. When
  there is a discussion of relativism and rights
  someone is sure to bring up womens rights.
• They are controversial not just because they
  address the role of women in society, but also
  because they rely heavily on the concept of
  equality.
• They raise the same questions about URAMs vs.
  Minority Rights that minority rights treaties do.
• Many of the parties that violate womens rights
  are non-state actors. This raises questions
  about state intervention in the private sphere.

3

Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women (1979)
4
Nondiscrimination

• Article I For the purposes of the present
  Convention, the term "discrimination against
  women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or
  restriction made on the basis of sex which has
  the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying
  the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women,
  irrespective of their marital status, on a basis
  of equality of men and women, of human rights and
  fundamental freedoms in the political, economic,
  social, cultural, civil or any other field.
• Article 3 States Parties shall take in all
  fields, in particular in the political, social,
  economic and cultural fields, all appropriate
  measures, including legislation, to ensure the
  full development and advancement of women, for
  the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and
  enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
  freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
• Classification Mixture of URAM and minority
  right

5
Commitment clause

• Article 2 States Parties condemn discrimination
  against women in all its forms, agree to pursue
  by all appropriate means and without delay a
  policy of eliminating discrimination against
  women and, to this end, undertake (a) To embody
  the principle of the equality of men and women in
  their national constitutions or other appropriate
  legislation if not yet incorporated therein and
  to ensure, through law and other appropriate
  means, the practical realization of this
  principle
• (b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other
  measures, including sanctions where appropriate,
  prohibiting all discrimination against women
• (c) To establish legal protection of the rights
  of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure
  through competent national tribunals and other
  public institutions the effective protection of
  women against any act of discrimination
• (d) To refrain from engaging in any act or
  practice of discrimination against women and to
  ensure that public authorities and institutions
  shall act in conformity with this obligation
• (e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate
  discrimination against women by any person,
  organization or enterprise
• (f) To take all appropriate measures, including
  legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
  regulations, customs and practices which
  constitute discrimination against women
• (g) To repeal all national penal provisions which
  constitute discrimination against women.

6
Nondiscrimination in the political realm

• Article 7 States Parties shall take all
  appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
  against women in the political and public life of
  the country and, in particular, shall ensure to
  women, on equal terms with men, the right
• (a) To vote in all elections and public referenda
  and to be eligible for election to all publicly
  elected bodies
• (b) To participate in the formulation of
  government policy and the implementation thereof
  and to hold public office and perform all public
  functions at all levels of government
• (c) To participate in non-governmental
  organizations and associations concerned with the
  public and political life of the country.
• Article 8 States Parties shall take all
  appropriate measures to ensure to women, on equal
  terms with men and without any discrimination,
  the opportunity to represent their Governments at
  the international level and to participate in the
  work of international organizations.
• Classification Mixture of URAM and minority
  right

7
Nondiscrimination concerning nationality

• Article 9
• 1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights
  with men to acquire, change or retain their
  nationality. They shall ensure in particular that
  neither marriage to an alien nor change of
  nationality by the husband during marriage shall
  automatically change the nationality of the wife,
  render her stateless or force upon her the
  nationality of the husband.
• 2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights
  with men with respect to the nationality of their
  children.
• Classification URAM

8
Nondiscrimination in education

• Article 10
• States Parties shall take all appropriate
  measures to eliminate discrimination against
  women in order to ensure to them equal rights
  with men in the field of education and in
  particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of
  men and women
• (a) The same conditions for career and vocational
  guidance, for access to studies and for the
  achievement of diplomas in educational
  establishments of all categories in rural as well
  as in urban areas this equality shall be ensured
  in pre-school, general, technical, professional
  and higher technical education, as well as in all
  types of vocational training
• (b) Access to the same curricula, the same
  examinations, teaching staff with qualifications
  of the same standard and school premises and
  equipment of the same quality
• (c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of
  the roles of men and women at all levels and in
  all forms of education by encouraging coeducation
  and other types of education which will help to
  achieve this aim and, in particular, by the
  revision of textbooks and school programmes and
  the adaptation of teaching methods
• (d ) The same opportunities to benefit from
  scholarships and other study grants
• (e) The same opportunities for access to
  programmes of continuing education, including
  adult and functional literacy programmes,
  particulary those aimed at reducing, at the
  earliest possible time, any gap in education
  existing between men and women
• (f) The reduction of female student drop-out
  rates and the organization of programmes for
  girls and women who have left school prematurely
  
• (g) The same Opportunities to participate
  actively in sports and physical education
• (h) Access to specific educational information to
  help to ensure the health and well-being of
  families, including information and advice on
  family planning.
• Classification Mixture of URAM and minority
  right

9
Nondiscrimination in employment

• Article 11
• 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate
  measures to eliminate discrimination against
  women in the field of employment in order to
  ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women,
  the same rights, in particular
• (a) The right to work as an inalienable right of
  all human beings
• (b) The right to the same employment
  opportunities, including the application of the
  same criteria for selection in matters of
  employment
• (c) The right to free choice of profession and
  employment, the right to promotion, job security
  and all benefits and conditions of service and
  the right to receive vocational training and
  retraining, including apprenticeships, advanced
  vocational training and recurrent training
• (d) The right to equal remuneration, including
  benefits, and to equal treatment in respect of
  work of equal value, as well as equality of
  treatment in the evaluation of the quality of
  work
• (e) The right to social security, particularly in
  cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness,
  invalidity and old age and other incapacity to
  work, as well as the right to paid leave
• (f) The right to protection of health and to
  safety in working conditions, including the
  safeguarding of the function of reproduction.
• 2. In order to prevent discrimination against
  women on the grounds of marriage or maternity and
  to ensure their effective right to work, States
  Parties shall take appropriate measures
• (a) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of
  sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy
  or of maternity leave and discrimination in
  dismissals on the basis of marital status
• (b) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with
  comparable social benefits without loss of former
  employment, seniority or social allowances
• (c) To encourage the provision of the necessary
  supporting social services to enable parents to
  combine family obligations with work
  responsibilities and participation in public
  life, in particular through promoting the
  establishment and development of a network of
  child-care facilities
• (d) To provide special protection to women during
  pregnancy in types of work proved to be harmful
  to them.
• 3. Protective legislation relating to matters
  covered in this article shall be reviewed
  periodically in the light of scientific and
  technological knowledge and shall be revised,
  repealed or extended as necessary.
• Classification Mixture of URAMs and Minority
  Rights

10
Nondiscrimination in health care and economic and
social life

• Article 12
• 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate
  measures to eliminate discrimination against
  women in the field of health care in order to
  ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women,
  access to health care services, including those
  related to family planning.
• 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I
  of this article, States Parties shall ensure to
  women appropriate services in connection with
  pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period,
  granting free services where necessary, as well
  as adequate nutrition during pregnancy and
  lactation.
• Article 13 States Parties shall take all
  appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
  against women in other areas of economic and
  social life in order to ensure, on a basis of
  equality of men and women, the same rights, in
  particular
• (a) The right to family benefits
• (b) The right to bank loans, mortgages and other
  forms of financial credit
• (c) The right to participate in recreational
  activities, sports and all aspects of cultural
  life.
• Classification Mixture of URAMs and Minority
  Rights

11
Equality before the law

• Article 15
• 1. States Parties shall accord to women equality
  with men before the law.
• 2. States Parties shall accord to women, in civil
  matters, a legal capacity identical to that of
  men and the same opportunities to exercise that
  capacity. In particular, they shall give women
  equal rights to conclude contracts and to
  administer property and shall treat them equally
  in all stages of procedure in courts and
  tribunals.
• 3. States Parties agree that all contracts and
  all other private instruments of any kind with a
  legal effect which is directed at restricting the
  legal capacity of women shall be deemed null and
  void.
• 4. States Parties shall accord to men and women
  the same rights with regard to the law relating
  to the movement of persons and the freedom to
  choose their residence and domicile.
• Classification URAM

12
Nondiscrimination in marriage and family relations

• Article 16
• 1. States Parties shall take all appropriate
  measures to eliminate discrimination against
  women in all matters relating to marriage and
  family relations and in particular shall ensure,
  on a basis of equality of men and women (a) The
  same right to enter into marriage
• (b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and
  to enter into marriage only with their free and
  full consent
• (c) The same rights and responsibilities during
  marriage and at its dissolution
• (d) The same rights and responsibilities as
  parents, irrespective of their marital status, in
  matters relating to their children in all cases
  the interests of the children shall be paramount
  
• (e) The same rights to decide freely and
  responsibly on the number and spacing of their
  children and to have access to the information,
  education and means to enable them to exercise
  these rights
• (f) The same rights and responsibilities with
  regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and
  adoption of children, or similar institutions
  where these concepts exist in national
  legislation in all cases the interests of the
  children shall be paramount
• (g) The same personal rights as husband and wife,
  including the right to choose a family name, a
  profession and an occupation
• (h) The same rights for both spouses in respect
  of the ownership, acquisition, management,
  administration, enjoyment and disposition of
  property, whether free of charge or for a
  valuable consideration.
• 2. The betrothal and the marriage of a child
  shall have no legal effect, and all necessary
  action, including legislation, shall be taken to
  specify a minimum age for marriage and to make
  the registration of marriages in an official
  registry compulsory.
• Classification URAM

13
Affirmative action

• Article 4
• 1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary
  special measures aimed at accelerating de facto
  equality between men and women shall not be
  considered discrimination as defined in the
  present Convention, but shall in no way entail as
  a consequence the maintenance of unequal or
  separate standards these measures shall be
  discontinued when the objectives of equality of
  opportunity and treatment have been achieved.
• 2. Adoption by States Parties of special
  measures, including those measures contained in
  the present Convention, aimed at protecting
  maternity shall not be considered discriminatory.
  
• Classification Minority Right

14
Gender stereotypes

• Article 5 States Parties shall take all
  appropriate measures
• To modify the social and cultural patterns of
  conduct of men and women, with a view to
  achieving the elimination of prejudices and
  customary and all other practices which are based
  on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority
  of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles
  for men and women
• (b) To ensure that family education includes a
  proper understanding of maternity as a social
  function and the recognition of the common
  responsibility of men and women in the upbringing
  and development of their children.
• Classification Minority Right

15
Prostitution

• Article 6 States Parties shall take all
  appropriate measures, including legislation, to
  suppress all forms of traffic in women and
  exploitation of prostitution of women.
• Classification Minority Right

16
Rural women

• Article 14
• 1. States Parties shall take into account the
  particular problems faced by rural women and the
  significant roles which rural women play in the
  economic survival of their families, including
  their work in the non-monetized sectors of the
  economy, and shall take all appropriate measures
  to ensure the application of the provisions of
  the present Convention to women in rural areas.
• 2. States Parties shall take all appropriate
  measures to eliminate discrimination against
  women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a
  basis of equality of men and women, that they
  participate in and benefit from rural development
  and, in particular, shall ensure to such women
  the right
• (a) To participate in the elaboration and
  implementation of development planning at all
  levels
• (b) To have access to adequate health care
  facilities, including information, counselling
  and services in family planning
• (c) To benefit directly from social security
  programmes
• (d) To obtain all types of training and
  education, formal and non-formal, including that
  relating to functional literacy, as well as,
  inter alia, the benefit of all community and
  extension services, in order to increase their
  technical proficiency
• (e) To organize self-help groups and
  co-operatives in order to obtain equal access to
  economic opportunities through employment or self
  employment
• (f) To participate in all community activities
• (g) To have access to agricultural credit and
  loans, marketing facilities, appropriate
  technology and equal treatment in land and
  agrarian reform as well as in land resettlement
  schemes
• (h) To enjoy adequate living conditions,
  particularly in relation to housing, sanitation,
  electricity and water supply, transport and
  communications.
• Classification Minority right

17
Whats missing from this list?

• No mention of abortion.
• No direct treatment of violence against women and
  rape. Is this due to the use of nondiscrimination
  as the guiding idea? See the Declaration on the
  Elimination of Violence against Women (1993)
• Not strong on the basic liberties (compare CRC)

18
Who are the addressees of womens rights?

• Primarily governments. They undertake the treaty
  and it calls upon them to do (and refrain from
  doing) various things.
• Secondarily individuals. Consider the focus on
  gender stereotypes.

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CEDAW and the Private Sphere

• A free society requires a large, healthy, and
  autonomous civil society
• A free society respects privacy of home and
  family as well as individual rights in areas such
  as thought, conscience, and expression.
• Many of the threats to womens rights come not
  from the state but from families, husbands, and
  boyfriends
• Women reasonably call for state action to address
  the sources of these threats, but that creates
  tensions with the first two propositions above
• How can the tensions be resolved or reduced?

20
How is CEDAW implemented?

• Treaty body (Committee on the Elimination of
  Discrimination against Women) plus reporting
  system
• There is a complaint mechanism but it is optional
• There is a separate UN Commission on the Status
  of Women, which is a standing committee of
  ECOSOC. It describes itself as dedicated
  exclusively to gender equality and advancement of
  women.

21
UN Womens Conferences

• 1975
• International Women's Year (IWY)
• World Conference on Women and IWY Tribune
• Place  Mexico City, Mexico
• Policy  World Plan of Action for the
  Implementation of the Objectives of International
  Women's Year
•  
• 1980
• World Conference of the UN
• Decade for Women and NGO Forum
• Place  Copenhagen, Denmark
• Policy  Forward-Looking Strategies for the
  Advancement of Women to the Year 2000
•  
• 1985
• World Conference to Review and Appraise the 
• Achievement of the UN Decade for Women and NGO
  Forum
• Place  Nairobi, Kenya
• Policy  Forward-Looking Strategies for the
  Advancement of Women to the Year 2000
•  
• 1995

22
Concluding Comments on Cuba 2000

• 261-2. STEREOTYPES The Committee expresses its
  concern about the persistence of stereotypes
  concerning the role of women in the family and
  society and of attitudes and behaviours of
  machismo in many areas of public and private
  life. The Committee calls on the Government to
  continue to undertake measures to address
  stereotypical attitudes in Cuban society. In
  particular, the Committee calls on the Government
  to continue efforts aimed at increasing women's
  participation in all areas and at all levels of
  decision-making, as well as to encourage men to
  share family responsibilities.
• 263-4. VIOLENCE The Committee expresses its
  concern that there is insufficient assessment of
  the question of violence against women, in
  particular domestic violence, and sexual
  harassment in the workplace. It notes with
  concern that no specific laws are in place to
  penalize domestic violence and sexual harassment
  in the workplace. The Committee calls upon the
  Government to assess, in a comprehensive manner,
  the possible incidence of violence against women,
  including domestic violence and sexual harassment
  in the workplace, as well as, in case of
  incidents, the root causes of such violence.
• 265-6. PROSTITUTION The Committee notes with
  concern that, while prostitution is not a crime,
  there is little information about the impact of
  programmes and other measures to prevent women
  from becoming prostitutes, and to rehabilitate
  and reintegrate them into society. The Committee
  urges the Government to increase its
  understanding of the causes of prostitution, and
  to assess the impact of its preventive and
  rehabilitative measures with a view to improving
  their effectiveness, and to bringing them fully
  into line with article 6 of the Convention. 267.
  The Committee notes with concern that, while the
  introduction of the option of divorce by consent
  constitutes a viable alternative to a
  court-supervised divorce, it may involve inherent
  risks of disadvantage for women.
• 269-70 UNEMPLOYMENT While recognizing the
  increase since 1996 in women's employment rate in
  the civil-State sector, the Committee remains
  concerned that women make up a higher percentage
  of the unemployed, and at the persistence of
  obstacles to their full integration in all
  sectors of the labour market, in particular the
  joint venture and tourism industry. The
  Committee calls on the Government to implement
  temporary special measures targeted at women to
  reduce the level of unemployment and of
  disparities in access to some sectors of the
  labour market.